Rebuilding Your Life & Mental Health After Addiction

By Jack Petti

It is challenging to rebuild your life and mental health after addiction. Entering a rehab after recognizing you have a substance addiction is one of the bravest decisions of all. It takes absolute courage and strength to surrender to the fact that your life has gone out of control and only professional assistance can get your life back on track.

As you spend your time in a rehab center, you gradually realize how complex addiction can be. You learn addiction is a severe disease and it is a complicated mixture of both mental and physical discomfort. While untangling addiction needs perseverance and time, everyone has different experiences with it.

No matter what type of addiction you are battling, your journey towards lasting recovery is all about dismantling the life you created around active addiction, cleaning the slate, and turning over a new leaf.

The following are tips shared by our addiction experts for rebuilding your life and mental health after addiction.

See, addiction is one of the most complex and difficult diseases in the world

Click To Tweet

Take One Day At A Time

In most cases, people who are trying to rebuild their lives after spending time in rehab believe that they are suddenly ready to take charge of the new life and jump straight away into the new world. However, they often learn at the start itself that being 100% ready is still a distant dream.

You may feel recharged and revitalized and want to live life to its fullest, but we suggest you take it slow. The pace of your life may be different at the moment, and you might need some time to adjust. Remember — when it is about defeating substance addiction, slow and steady wins the race!

Forgive Yourself

Shame and guilt become a part of life for many people after undergoing addiction treatment. They often get lost in the maze of low self-esteem, failure, and fear. You are not alone if you are feeling the same. However, you need to understand that such kind of negative thinking is only preventing you from moving forward at the required pace.

See, addiction is one of the most complex and difficult diseases in the world and you have already dealt with it. It alters your brain and rearranging it is not easy. You had a mental and physical connection with substance and breaking such dependency is hard.

Now that you are out of rehab, realize that you have bravely fought with it and are ready to take the next step. You should be really really proud of reaching this stage. And of course, you should forgive yourself and let the shame and guilt go. You need to do this as it gives you the peace and strength needed to rebuild your life.

Exercise Regularly

Remember the time when you were completely into your drug or alcohol? How often did you exercise to improve your health back then? Absolutely never!
But now the tables are turned and you are far away from the substance, you are sober and clean after a long time.

However, despite all this, are you really in good health? Not totally! People who exercise regularly after rehab experience a huge difference in terms of boosting their physical and mental health, feeling self-confident, improving energy levels, and overall sense of well-being.

Set Realistic Goals & Accomplish Them

Setting your life goals and following them is one of the most important aspects of completing a rehab. It has the power to keep all the positive things moving. Now that you are on your way to a healthy life along with regular exercise, proper diet, and plenty of rest, things have already started falling in place.

Maintaining such a routine is vital as you haven’t yet set significant goals because of your addiction. Your future life is like a clean slate after rehab. So, you can decide what you want to accomplish in your life. Once you set your goals, make sure you carry them out.

Eat Healthily After Addiction

When you were spending years abusing drugs or alcohol, you have not had a nutrition-rich diet throughout that span. This long-term neglect is now showing the signs of malnutrition that need your attention.

Therefore, you now have to reduce fat intake, cut down on junk food, sugar, and other unhealthy food from your diet. And, focus on eating fresh veggies, fruits, lean meats, and fish daily. Also, you have to drink a lot of water and minimize caffeine intake.

A comprehensive physical and mental health change takes time. But as you keep eating healthy food, your taste will alter, and eventually, you will start craving nutritious food.

Get Help Today After Addiction

If you or someone you love is struggling with substance abuse, do not wait to contact an addiction helpline. Renowned rehabs will help you overcome your addiction and further assist you to rebuild your life and achieve long-lasting sobriety.

Author’s Bio
Jack Petti
Jack is dedicated to healing people facing the same issues that he once faced. Apart from being the Chief Executive Officer at Renaissance Recovery. Jack handles and manages several other roles at the company. He is known for his work with clients that helped them build a strong and solid foundation for recovery.

The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect all or some of our beliefs and policy. Any links on this page does not necessarily mean they have been endorsed by Defying Mental Illness.

About The Author

Defying Mental Illness

Chuck and Zoe are the founders of Defying Mental Illness (DMI), a Community Interest Company. Guest bloggers have played a very enriching role in making this website a highly recognized website for mental health advocacy. To contribute a blog, please contact us.

Defying Mental Illness – Put a Full Stop, is an organization with a mandate to reach out to those faced with mental health challenges to help them not only defy the disease, but also put a full stop to the stigma and discrimination. Chuck and Zoe are often invited to speak on various platforms including radio and television.

See author's posts

Rebuilding Your Life & Mental Health After Addiction